Pythonic

Pythonic is a term used to describe code, APIs, or design patterns that conform to the idioms and philosophy of the Python programming language. It denotes approaches that feel natural in Python, emphasizing readability, simplicity, and explicitness over cleverness or complexity. The term originated within the Python community and is widely used to distinguish idiomatic Python from code that, while functional, relies on techniques more common in other languages.

A guiding influence is The Zen of Python, a collection of aphorisms that include emphasis on one obvious way to do it, readability counts, and simplicity. Pythonic design tends to favor open and expressive constructs that align with Python’s standard library and built-in data types.

Common Pythonic traits include using Python’s data structures and iteration patterns, preferring idioms such as for loops with enumerate or zip over manual indexing, leveraging list and generator expressions, and applying built-in functions and modules rather than reinventing functionality. It also encompasses duck typing and polymorphism through simple interfaces, clear exception handling, and avoidance of unnecessary abstraction.

In practice, Pythonic code aims to be maintainable and approachable by other Python developers. The term is commonly applied to libraries, APIs, and code samples as a heuristic for idiomatic Python style.

See also: The Zen of Python, PEP 8, duck typing, readability.